The Mandalorian Episode 7: Captain Gilad Pellaeon, Explained

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Mandalorian “Chapter 23: The Spies.”] From the shadows comes the heir to the Empire on The Mandalorian. Wednesday’s “Chapter 23: The Spies” sees Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) conspire with the Shadow Council, a cabal of Empire remnants subverting the New Republic. Among the galactic warlords are Imperial officers Commandant Brendol Hux (Peaky Blinders‘ Brian Gleeson) — the father of future First Order General Armitage Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) — and Captain Gilad Pellaeon (Nikita‘s Xander Berkeley), who serves the self-appointed heir to the Empire: Grand Admiral Thrawn (to be played by Lars Mikkelsen in the upcoming live-action Ahsoka series).

“Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return will herald in the re-emergence of our military,” declares Pellaeon, “and provide Commandant Hux enough time to deliver on Project Necromancer.” With Hux overseeing his shadowy cloning resurrection project and Gideon secretly aggregating the best of the cloners, the Jedi, and the Mandalorians to create his own beskar-clad army of Dark Troopers, the armored warlord scoffs at the mention of the absent Thrawn from the Shadow Council. 

“Our one hope for success relies upon the secrecy of his return,” Pellaeon explains, but Gideon challenges the naval captain’s loyalty to the still-missing Thrawn.”I hear whispers from one end of the galaxy to another, and never a word of Thrawn. You have spoken of his imminent return. Perhaps, it’s time we look to new leadership,” suggests Gideon, waving away Hux’s Project Necromancer resurrecting a cloned Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

Gideon criticizes Hux and Pellaeon, accusing the Imperials of amassing countless resources and equipment while the other Shadow Council warlords “scrape and claw resources awaiting the grand plan to take shape.” Ultimately, Hux and Pellaeon grant Gideon his request: reinforcements for his TIE interceptor squadron and three Praetorian Guards to stamp out Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze’s (Katee Sackhoff) united factions of Mandalorians before they can retake their war-ravaged home world of Mandalore.

The Mandalorian: Who Is Captain Gilad Pellaeon?

Originally introduced in author Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy of Star WarsLegends novels set five years post-Return of the Jedi — 1991’s Heir to the Empire, 1992’s Dark Force Rising, and 1993’s The Last Command — Pellaeon was a believer of the “true Empire” and Thrawn’s right-hand man. A Corellia-born naval officer, Pellaeon served as captain of the Chimaera, the flagship Star Destroyer in Thrawn’s fleet, and ascended the military ranks as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Remnant.

In Canon, Captain Pellaeon is appointed by Governor Tarkin as commander of the Harbringer Star Destroyer in Zahn’s 2019 novel Thrawn: Treason. Set in 1 BBY — before the battle of Yavin and the Rebel victory over the Empire’s superweapon the Death Star in Star Wars: A New Hope — the novel takes place before the animated Star Wars Rebels finale “Family Reunion – and Farewell,” which ended with Thrawn and the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger disappearing together into deep space aboard the Chimaera. Jim Cummings voiced Pellaeon in Rebels, with Berkeley’s Mandalorian cameo marking the fan-favorite character’s first live-action appearance. 

The Mandalorian season 3 finale, “Chapter 24,” premieres Wednesday, April 19th on Disney+.